Welcome to Family E-1
We're Digging Up New Ideas
Our social studies teacher, Pat Brounstein, is working on an ancient civilization that ties into the archeology dig. Her students will be learning about Egypt and how they prepared their Kings and Queens for death. The students will be mummifying a chicken and making the sarcophagus they will be buried in.
Throughout sixth grade the students are going to be gathering important information about themselves for their portfolio. They will take this portfolio with them on to seventh grade. In their portfolios they will place school work they believe to be a representation of their abilities. They will arrive in Family H at the beginning of their seventh grade year with the beginnings of their portfolio. From there it will grow to show a better representation of who they are. At the end of eighth grade they will present their portfolio to faculty, family and friends.
Each member of our Family took the time to write a little about themselves so that their personalities could came through better than if written by an outside source.
I am a member of Family E-1 at O'Farrell Community School. I am responsible for teaching math, science, and computers for our family. I am also the Family Leader, which means that I drew the shortstraw at the beginning of the year. I have to deal with the problems that most people don't like to deal with.
O'Farrell is a very interesting place to work. Since we do not have a principal, vice principals, or counselors, the teachers carry much more responsibility than in a traditional school setting. I enjoy this set-up in that I can become more personally involved with the students and the community.
I was a supervisor at Pac Bell for 20 years. This is my second career. I'm at O'Farrell because of its vision and focus on student excellence. The atmosphere here is great for learning and with expectations at 90% it's a wonderful challenge for the students and they are able to meet it!<
I graduated from Point Loma Nazarene College in June 1992 and finished the teaching program in January 1993. In September, I began working fulltime at O'Farrell Community School as a Family support teacher. In this position, I worked very closely with two triads of teachers. My job was to support, cover, team teach, teach my own units and collaborate on curriculum ideas. The following school year, I received a contract position for 6th grade language arts with one of the triads I had worked with the previous school year.
I could not imagine a more perfect position for my first year as a "real" teacher. As the school year began, I was team teaching with two veteran teachers who provided me excellent support, great suggestions and strategies. There are many great things about O'Farrell! One of the things I appreciate most as a new teacher at O'Farrell is the support I receive schoolwide. Everyone here is encouraged to be a part of a team --no one is asked to just go to a room and teach.
This is my first year at O'Farrell Community School. As Support Teacher/Cluster Sub for Family E, my main duties include taking team teachers', classes, implementing my own curriculum ideas, nd providing added academic/social-emotional assistance for students. This requires a degree of flexibility, as it means teaching Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science, or P.E. at a moments notice when necessary. Despite the substitute salary, this job is by far my most rewarding educational experience. "Floating" allows me the opportunity of interacting with my students in a variety of situations, including different classrooms and off-site field trips like Camp Palomar. As a staff member at O'Farrell, I enjoy the trust and freedom we teachers are given in making our own administrative decisions. Because we are charter school employees, we use resources creatively in the interest of students and staff alike.
This is my second semester at O'Farrell Community School as a student teacher. I graduated from San Diego State University with a B.S. in Science before I decided to go into teaching. I really like the sixth grade level, the students are always full of so much curiosity and energy, although, high school intrigues me as well. In a few months I will be applying for jobs in either middle schools or high schools.
I like O'Farrell for many of the same reasons listed above. I thing I like the best about O'Farrell is the support every one gets here. Not only the veteran teachers are listened to, but everyone. Even the student teachers are apart of this school. We are allowed to do everything that the full time teachers are allowed to do. There aren't too many other schools that allow student teachers to be so closely associated with the school.